1879 Ontario general election

The 1879 Ontario general election was the fourth general election held in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on June 5, 1879, to elect the 88 members of the 4th Legislative Assembly ("MLAs").

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Oliver Mowat, won a third term in government with a larger majority in the legislature.

The Ontario Conservative Party, led by William Ralph Meredith, continued to lose seats.

Results
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MLAs ! colspan=4 | Votes ! Candidates !1875 !1879 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp)


 * style="text-align:left;"|Oliver Mowat
 * 81 || 50  || 57  || 7  || 119,148  || 28,339  || 48.07% || 0.52


 * rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|William Ralph Meredith
 * 87 || 34  || 29  || 5 || 118,513  || 31,693  || 47.82% || 2.35


 * – || 1 || – || 1 || – || 1,553 || – || 0.81


 * || 2 || 2  || 2  ||   || 2,111  || 18 || 0.85% || 0.26


 * || – || 1 || – || 1 || – || 1,125 || – || 0.59

! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total ! " colspan="2"|88 ! " colspan="2"|247,857 ! " colspan="2"| 100.00%
 * || 19 || – || – || – || 8,085  || 1,328  || 3.26% || 0.28
 * 189||88
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Voter turnout
 * 247,857
 * 56,891
 * 67.95
 * 4.06
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered electors
 * 392,085
 * 108,229
 * colspan="2"|
 * style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" colspan="3" |Acclamations
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||1
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||1
 * }
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||1
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||1
 * }
 * }

Synopsis of results

 * = open seat
 * = turnout is above provincial average
 * = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
 * = incumbent had switched allegiance
 * = previously incumbent in another riding
 * = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
 * = incumbency arose from byelection gain
 * = other incumbents renominated
 * = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
 * = multiple candidates

MLAs elected by region and riding
Party designations are as follows:

{{legend|#EA6D6A|Liberal}} {{legend|#9999FF|Conservative}} {{legend|#DCDCDC|Independent Conservative}}


 * Northern Ontario
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Algoma: Robert Adam Lyon}}


 * Ottawa Valley
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Carleton: George William Monk}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Lanark North: William Clyde Caldwell}}
 * {{legend|#DCDCDC|Lanark South: William Lees (I-Con)}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Ottawa: Patrick Baskerville}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Prescott: William Harkin}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Renfrew North: Thomas Deacon}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Renfrew South: Thomas Murray}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Russell: Ira Morgan}}


 * Saint Lawrence Valley
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Brockville: Christopher Finlay Fraser}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Cornwall: William Mack}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Dundas: Andrew Broder}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Glengarry: Donald Macmaster}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grenville South: Frederick John French}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Kingston: James Henry Metcalfe}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Leeds North and Grenville North: Henry Merrick}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Leeds South: William Richardson}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Stormont: Joseph Kerr}}


 * Central Ontario
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Addington: Hammel Madden Deroche}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Durham East: John Rosevear}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Durham West: James Wellington McLaughlin}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Frontenac: Delino Dexter Calvin}}
 * {{legend|#DCDCDC|Hastings East: Nathaniel Stephen Appleby (I-Con)}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hastings North: George Henry Boulter}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hastings West: Alexander Robertson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Lennox: George Douglas Hawley}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Northumberland East: James Marshall Ferris}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Northumberland West: John Collard Field}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Peterborough East: Thomas Blezard}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Peterborough West: William Hepburn Scott}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Prince Edward: Gideon Striker}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Victoria North: Samuel Stanley Peck}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Victoria South: Samuel Casey Wood}}


 * Georgian Bay
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Bruce North: Donald Sinclair}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grey North: David Creighton}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Muskoka and Parry Sound: John Classon Miller}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Simcoe East: Herman Henry Cook}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Simcoe South: William James Parkhill}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Simcoe West: Thomas Long}}


 * Wentworth/Halton/Niagara
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Halton: David Robertson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Hamilton: John Morison Gibson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Lincoln: Sylvester Neelon}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Monck: Richard Harcourt}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Welland: Daniel Near}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wentworth North: James McMahon}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Wentworth South: Franklin Carpenter}}


 * Midwestern Ontario
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Brant North: James Young}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Brant South: Arthur Sturgis Hardy}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Bruce South: Rupert Mearse Wells}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Dufferin: John Barr}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grey East: Abram William Lauder}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Grey South: James Hill Hunter}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Haldimand: Jacob Baxter}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Huron East: Thomas Gibson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Huron South: Archibald Bishop}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Huron West: Alexander McLagan Ross}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Norfolk North: John Bailey Freeman}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Norfolk South: William Morgan}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Oxford North: Oliver Mowat}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Oxford South: Adam Crooks}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Perth North: David Davidson Hay}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Perth South: Thomas Ballantyne}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Waterloo North: Moses Springer}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Waterloo South: James Livingston}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wellington Centre: Charles Clarke}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wellington South: James Laidlaw}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wellington West: Robert McKim}}


 * Southwestern Ontario
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Elgin East: Thomas McIntyre Nairn}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Elgin West: John Cascaden}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Essex North: Solomon White}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Essex South: Lewis Wigle}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Kent East: Daniel McCraney}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Kent West: Edward Robinson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Lambton East: Peter Graham}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Lambton West: Timothy Blair Pardee}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|London: William Ralph Meredith}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Middlesex East: Richard Tooley}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Middlesex North: John Waters}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Middlesex West: John Watterworth}}


 * Peel/York/Ontario
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Cardwell: Charles Robinson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Ontario North: Thomas Paxton}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Ontario South: John Dryden}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Peel: Kenneth Chisholm}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Toronto East: Alexander Morris}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Toronto West: Robert Bell}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|York East: George Badgerow}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|York North: Joseph Henry Widdifield}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|York West: Peter Patterson}}